Marlins Avoid Arb With Stanton, Cishek

The Marlins have agreed to a one-year deal with Giancarlo Stanton, thereby avoiding arbitration, according to Juan C. Rodriguez of the Miami Sun Sentinel (on Twitter). Rodriguez tweets that Stanton will earn $6.5MM in 2014, while Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that he'll earn an additional $100K if he reaches 600 PAs.

The slugging 24-year-old was projected to earn $4.8MM by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz, though Swartz further explained that a substantially higher number would not be surprising. Given the reportedly rocky relationship between Stanton and the Fish, the two sides' ability to reach agreement on a challenging arbitration case would seem to bode well for harmony going forward.

All recent reports have indicated that Stanton is not likely to be dealt over the current off-season, and it will be worth watching to see whether any momentum could build toward an extension. Stanton would reach the open market before the 2017 season if a new deal is not reached in the meantime.

Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports that the Fish have also avoided arbitration with closer Steve Cishek (Twitter link). The side-arming righty will earn $3.8MM in 2014.

The 27-year-old had projected to land at $3.2MM for his Super Two arbitration year. Cishek has established himself as a strong big leaguer, with a career 2.48 ERA in 192 1/3 innings. That mark has not strayed above 2.69 in any one season, and last year it checked in at a sturdy 2.33 earned per nine. Cishek maintained a stellar strikeout rate (9.6 K/9) in 2013 while improving his command (career-low 2.8 BB/9). He still carries three more years of team control.

Minor League stat don’t always (in fact normally don’t) translate to the MLB. For example Brandon Wood hit 20-40 HR a year in the minor and then hit 18 in 5 MLB seasons. Mike Tout (the best player in the MLB) saw his OBP drop 25 points when he moved up to the MLB.
Bottom line minor league stats are NOT MLB stats!

The Choo signing and the Fielder/Kinsler trade very well may have taken TEX out of the running for Stanton. They have a highly paid impact bat in the OF and 1B now and after trading Kinsler they can no longer include Profar in a trade for Stanton.

Don’t be surprised if you see a deal between the Dodgers and the Marlins in which Stanton and Puig change uniforms. It would be beneficial to both clubs, and certainly looks doable, and desirable for both clubs for rather obvious reasons.

koji did perform for us when Davis didn’t. he even said he just couldn’t make it work….But you failed to mention Cliff Lee who we stole and carried us to our 1st World Series! But all in all….i sure agree with what you said. There’s no way to extend a guy your trading for before the trade is actually completed is there??

for instance….if we trade for Price, is there any way to say “Hey, we need a commitment for an extension as soon as the trade is done.” in that case, i think unloading prospects is fine…because a prospect is just a prospect, 50% never pan out. That’s my take on it.